31 December 2007

Choose Power Animal for 2008

I chose my power animal for 2008. Mine is the Horse! The Horse is about freedom, balance and abundance. Sounds good to me...

check out Carrie Hart's Power Animals Unleashed by clicking the title of this entry.

plus read Carrie Hart's (and Quado's) channelled message for 2008 below...

EY

2008 is the Year of Power

2008 is the year of power, personal power, the power to create your life unhindered by fear and doubt, the power to come fully into yourself, reach your deepest core and shine out with all you are.

As the last year was a year of transition and often confusion, so the coming year is one of clarity and an explosion of power into your life. As prior years have been years of growth and learning, discovery and exploration, so this coming year is one of expression of all you have learned, full self-expression using the talents that have been created through your learning as well as those that have long lain dormant.

This is the year of power. This is the year of expression. This is the year of freedom.

And all of this is yours through the connection you have with the great all, with your own godliness, with the energy within you that ties to the great source of all energy. You do not need to earn this; it is yours. You do not even need to learn this; it is yours as a natural part of your being. You cannot help but be one with the power. It is simply so.

All you need to do, right now, is acknowledge it, feel it, own it. You do, in fact, know what you want out of life. You do, in fact, know your deepest dreams. And these dreams are to use the talents and characteristics that are within you. They are there for that reason. They are there finally to be acknowledged and utilized as a part of your full self-expression.

And so, claim this power. Claim your life. Claim your inheritance, your birthright, to be a fully-expressed and powerful human being, walking this earth with purpose, each step guided by the light of love, the pathway ahead sparkling with infinite possibility and the great and unending grace of God flooding down upon you as you walk.

See the glow within you, the spark of divine presence that is you. See yourself glowing brighter and brighter, glowing with the goodness and godliness that you are. See how that glow extends out and out, further and further, until it light up the world.

And from this space and this place, create your life. Pull out that dusty old dream, the one that seems too big, the one that everyone says is impossible, yet still the one that makes your heart beat faster.

Take it out and give it power; give it light and energy. Now let it go, fully charged and burning bright, and watch it ascend into the sky, up and up, until it is a star to light your life, hanging up in the firmament, ready to guide you each step of the way.

Connect with that star. Feel and see the bond that reaches from that star down to you. Feel that you and your star are one and the same. Feel that you have within you all the power of the brightest star in the sky, all the power of all that is, the true godliness of creation, all within you.

And now, stand tall and reach your hand up to the night sky. Point your finger at your star and see the lightning flash out. Hear the thunder answer. Let your power flash out in wonder and glory as you declare yourself clearly and fully: I am! I am!

This is your year to be guided by this star, letting each step expand your light and lift you higher. This is the year to shine out in freedom and godliness, shining as brightly as your star shines in the sky.

The time is here. Say it aloud, say it with power, say it because it is true: I am!

*

Visit www.carriehart.com for music, poetry, meditations, healing crystals and messages from the last several weeks.
Copyright 2007 by Systematique. All rights reserved.

Tarot Your Year 2008

Tarot Your Year
I posted this entry last year and thought I'd post again for those interested...

From Beverlee at astrologybybeverlee (Click the title to access her web site)
EY


As one year comes to a close one cycle ends and another cycle begins to unfold. So I'd like to offer you a ritual to perform as you mark the passing of one year--2006 and the beginning of another--2007.

You'll need a Tarot Deck to perform this ritual.

New Year's Tarot Meditation

To begin, find a quiet spot where you will not be disturbed, seat yourself comfortably and take a deep breath. Now just exhale the year that is ending. Better yet, take in a deep breath for each month and exhale the closing year a month at a time. While you are exhaling, you might like to visualize a calendar and its pages—starting with January—being exhaled out into the Universe. If there is something special that you want to let go of that occurred in one of these months, visualize it moving away from you off into the distance and into the Universe, leaving you forever.

When you complete this visualization you should be feeling much lighter and ready to prepare for the beautiful New Year that awaits you. Now you're ready to begin the Tarot Meditation that will reveal your expectations, wishes and possibilities for the New Year.

This Tarot Meditation is designed to correspond to the Lunar Phases with which we have become so familiar as we've worked together with them over the past few years. You'll begin by shuffling your Tarot Deck to imbue it with your energy. Then you're going to cut the deck towards you with your left hand and draw nine cards.

The first card you draw will be the Creator. Place it in the center of the circle. This card symbolizes your highest potential for the coming year. It shows how you will be connected to your "Great I Am" throughout the year.

The second card you draw represents you and the new beginnings you are committed to making in the coming year. You may use this card for visualization for the entire year because it symbolizes what you are in the process of becoming. This card also symbolizes the New Moon—beginnings. Place this card in the Eastern part of your circle.

The third card you draw represents what you must build and work on in the coming year in order to be successful. It correlates to the Crescent Phase. Place this card in the South Eastern part of the circle.

The fourth card represents what you have to step out and try in the New Year so that you will feel like you are doing something that is expressing your individuality. It symbolizes the First Quarter Phase of the Moon. Place this card in the Southern part of the circle.

The fifth card represents your inner child and what it is seeking in the way of creativity and fun for the New Year. This card can also have a great deal to do with your work and how you plan to make it a pleasurable experience. It embodies the Gibbous Phase of the Moon. Place this card in the South Western part of the circle.

The sixth card you draw represents your shadow issue and what you must learn this year in order to have a good relationship with others. It also represents the Full Phase of the Cycle. Place this card in the Western part of the wheel.

The seventh card represents what you have to give out unconditionally all year long in order to stay in balance and receive abundance. This ties in with the Disseminating Phase. Place this card in the North Western part of the wheel.

The eighth card represents your power for the New Year. This is your goal—what you can achieve when all of the other cards are balanced. This corresponds to the Last Quarter Phase of the Cycle. Place this card in the Northern position of the wheel.

The ninth card represents what you will be letting go of in the New Year. It also symbolizes the part of you that needs rest and healing. This is your spiritual program for the New Year. You can think of it as your retreat card. It's similar to the Balsamic Phase of the Moon. Place it in the North East position in the wheel.

Now it's time to read the descriptions for each of the cards you have drawn in the book or booklet that accompanies your Tarot Deck. You will be amazed by how they describe what's going on with you both on an inner and outer level. Write down the description for each of the cards you have drawn. You will want to refer to them during the year to see whether you are on track with the Grand Design of your life, because each of them mirrors your intention for the coming year.

Drinking Karoake and Singing Corona

Monday 31Dec07 10:15am

So I've overcome my excruciating pain, for the most part. It's been quite the journey for sure.

It's so funny how things can just drop into your lap sometimes. I'd been of course suffering in pain for almost 2 months when I went to see Theatre Rusticle's show April 14, 1912. Before the show I caught up with the people who seeing the show with me and saw the director's boyfriend. He looked at me and was just shocked by how out of it from the pain I was. He said, "We have to take care of this!"

I watched the show without moving a bone for the whole show. Great show, by the way. It was mentioned as one of the top 10 theatre shows (and companies) in Now magazine for 2007!

After the show there was an opening night reception and again, everyone was looking at me with such shock from how out of whack I looked. I cannot even describe the kind of pain I was in. All I can say is that I cried at least once a day because of the pain. My one friend who is a massage therapist just kept staring at me trying to figure out a way to help me since I said I couldn't even tolerate the thought of manipulative massage. I would do Reiki if I could find a good Reiki practitioner.

I spoke to boyfriend again and he asked me if I met husband of one of the other attendees. "Husband can help you!" He said as he dragged me over to where Husband was. He literally said to him, "This is Shelley, she's in pain, Help Her!" ha ha.
Husband brought me to his car, like we were doing a drug deal (as we all laughed nervously about how suspicious we looked). He didn't have a machine in his car but promised to get one to me. True to his word, he passed one on to TR's director and she dropped it off to me at work. I started the sound vibration that night.

Strange little machine. The booklet says that you can only work on two pained areas at once. I chose my carpal tunnel and my neck pain figuring it was like book ends, start there and the stuff in the middle will get the effects. I used the machine twice a day for three weeks. Within a week I was feeling improvements and within the 2nd week, the pain was GONE! Like with medication you have to follow through on the program even if the pain has gone and I was a good girl and followed through.

Hmm, the machice is called Ensonix Sound Vibration. A picture of it can be found at http://www.myarthritisstore.com/ (click the title of this entry)
Of course if some sales guy had come up to me to sell me one of them I'd think he's a freak and wouldn't believe in the benefits. But because I was in so much pain and had tried everything save chopping my arm off (which I'd considered) I was willing to try sucking on Olives if someone told me it would help and I hate Olives. Because my pain was acute pain, I think, the machine worked quickly. I'm currently using it on my arthritic toes and am starting the 3rd go round (three weeks of sound therapy, 5 days of none). But my arthritis is chronic pain that I've had for close to 20 years so I'm expecting it will take some time. I have felt some improvement. The other recommendation is to have as little weight bearing activities as possible which is hard for my feet since I need to walk. But it's coming along.

The whole pain thing freaked me out soundly. I really had to slow down plus I kept my outings with friends to a bare minimum. My girlfriend Jojo kept me as drunk as possible as much as possible. ha ha! My Halloween girlfriend (day of her birthday) recommended taking gravol to help me sleep. It increased my sleep time from 2 hours to 4 hours. Lolo sent me many a message and placed a couple of calls from South Korea to check in on me. And of course the Theatre Rusticle clan set me up with this sound vibration that truly saved my life. Even my boys at work were getting freaked out because I was breaking down at my desk. I was honestly considering going to my doctor to find out about medicinal weed!

So since then I took it easy. I've been pretty scared to work on my computer at home so the writing has been nonexistent. I've stayed away from using the phone as much as possible since I'm one of those bad people who rests it on my shoulder which is not good if I don't want to be in any pain. Thankfully I was out of pain in time for my Author's festival and enjoyed that as always and met a really nice author from Germany (Jakob Arjouni). We exchanged email addresses and I have yet to send him any greetings.

November I lost my fourth and newest cat Zoe. I only had her for five months and half of that time I was in pain. So I didn't know her well enough to notice that she wasn't acting right. When I finally realized, she's just not right I rushed her to the vet and was not given a good prognosis. I brought her home and spent the last day with her and the next morning brought her to the Humane Society because I couldn't bear the thought of putting another cat down at the exact same time as I put my beloved Saki down 4 years ago. It was too much to bear. I cried the whole time at the Humane Society. I cried and apologized to Zoe and was heart broken to find out that when you surrender a pet to the Humane Society you never know one way or the other about the pet. Nothing. Did they save her life? Did they put her down? Nothing. Now I don't donate money to charity with the thought, "What's in it for me?" But you'd think after years of donating money that is matched by the company I work for, that there would be something to make me feel better... I'm just saying. I walked home with the empty carrier case balling my eyes out. I was such a mess I couldn't even contemplate taking public transit.

That devastation brought me into December. It's a bad month of the year at the best of times, what with it being when my Mom died and all my previous years of hating Christmas and the like. The first week brought me into month end and year end deadlines at work. One boss, the procrastinator of the century, just wasn't handing in all the stuff that I knew he should be. Every day I told both bosses, don't wait til the last minute because I'm not working any overtime for this. I made it really clear that Friday, Dec 7th (the day that my Mom died) was my deadline for my work. There was no way that I could do any of their stuff on Friday. Can you feel it coming? No overtime, my work deadline Friday!

So Thursday at about 12:30pm, the procrastinator of the Century gives me all his stuff for purchase orders that must be done or they will fall in to next years budget. It was the stack that even if I didn't take my lunch break I still wouldn't get done without staying over time! BITTER! I was so bitter that I yelled at him several times. I asked, "How long have you been sitting on this? I've told you, I've told you, I have my own shit to do tomorrow." I stayed late. I made him go get and buy me dinner. All was done! I was home by 7:45pm. I was tired but at least I was fed. It was all good.

Friday I send out an email asking very politely when the flatfile (a file with every charge made for the previous month) would come out and could it be soon. It takes me at least a couple hours to get through it and then I have a bunch of reports I have to run, balance, sign and get signed before I can hand it off to Accounting for them to upload everything into their program that they will ultimately process the invoices from. I run the error report for the flatfile and there is an error in it. There isn't supposed to be. I know off the first page that I'm not going to meet my work deadline. Okay. I can correct everything and see if I can get an updated version of the flatfile but even if I can, I won't get it until late afternoon which means I'll have to stay late on a Friday on the anniversary of my mom's death.

I go into a slow freak out that gains momentum: "I'm not staying late. I can't stay late. I shouldn't even be here. I should be home remembering my mother. I can't believe this is happening. Accounting is going to freak out. I can't believe I missed those things on the previous flatfile but I'm rushing through everything to get everything done and now I'm fucking up my own work. shit shit shit!"

I send an email to Accounting and the Property Manager: "I am not going to meet the year end deadline. I have officially reached the point in my position where I have too much work and I'm rushing through it and making mistakes. I don't know what else to tell you. Shelley"

The property manager calls and says that you can only do so much and shit happens. I start to explain what's happened and I burst into tears and say "I shouldn't even be here! I'm going home!"

I send my two bosses an email to their blackberries at 12:50pm (who are out for lunch because it's the one bosses birthday, by the way): "I am leaving for the day at 1pm. Shelley"

I log out of everything, shut everything down, put on my coat and wait for my co-worker to get back from lunch. I tell him that my deadline is fucked that I've had enough that I am going home and he looks so worried about me it's actually heartbreaking. I cry all the way home. ha ha! I never did spend any time properly remembering my mom because I was such a basket case.

The next day I bought new clippers and gave myself the Warrior Woman head shave. And was scary calm for the staff Christmas party. I wasn't sure if I was going to be fired, reprimanded or what after leaving work on Friday. But it turned out that my co-worker told my birthday boss what happened when he got back from lunch. Birthday boss said, "I knew it had to be something big for her to just leave like that." The party was fun and all was well in the world.

So in the last 6 months my boys have discovered that I'm not really one of the boys with all the tears of mine that they've seen between my pain, my cat, and my emotional breakdown. I've gained more of an attitude that I can only do my best and strive a little less for ultimate perfection (I admit to being a perfectionist at work). Perfection will kill you.

With my new calm demeanor I made it through the rest of the month unscathed. My bosses and I got out to more contractor's Christmas parties, which was a nice treat. I skipped any other outing that wasn't work related. We had our party in our department and one of the boys brought in his Karoake machine which went from me saying, "no, I'm not singing in front of strangers," to me singing the whole afternoon away as the building entertainment. No word of a lie. Then every one went home and I was still there at 8pm with the two guys on shift singing til the cows came home. ha ha! I basically had one of my "me, myself and I parties" in public. Lord help me!

Drinking Karoake and Singing Corona (that's how it felt when co-worker drove me home at the end of his shift.)

So needless to say after the trials and tribulations that were 2007 , I'm ready to put all that behind me and move forward with my goals. hmm, and I'm contemplating getting a karoake machine... just kidding!

EY